Dinosaur parasites
is the practice of certain animals (mostly " ") of feeding on blood. Small parasites have existed for a long time because it is an efficient method to obtain food. Blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious proteins and lipids that can be taken without enormous effort and without killing the host. Parasites that feed on blood include worms (e.g. leeches) and arthropods (e.g. mosquitoes). In the sole source of dinosaur DNA are mosquitoes that had sucked the blood of a dinosaur. In Jurassic Park: Builder leech-like worms are a source of DNA from aquatic creatures. It is a matter of debate whether mosquitoes existed throughout the Mesozoic Era. Furthermore, dinosaurs had a tough skin covered with scales and feathers. It would not have been easy for mosquitoes to feed on dinosaurs. Jurassic Park media The movies and novels (let alone the rest of Jurassic Park media) never state what particular parasites fed on dinosaurs and other extinct animals. features multiple close-ups of John Hammond's amber cane. This amber-entombed mosquito was identified by Navy entomologist Joe Conlon as ; which is one of the only mosquitoes that doesn't feed on blood.Sterbenz C. (2013). Mosquito Expert Calls Out A Big Problem In The Plot Of Jurassic Park, BusinessInsider. Online Furthermore, the mosquito clearly shows fuzzy antennae, meaning the particular insect is male. Only female mosquitoes feed on blood. This was likely for a cinematic effect. Mesozoic parasites In the Showroom Scene Mr. DNA says: A hundred million years ago, there were mosquitoes, just like today. The fossil record shows that in the Cretaceous Period there was a multitude of hematophagous insects.Lukashevich E.D., Mostovski M.B. (2003). Hematophagous Insects in the Fossil Record, Paleontological Journal, Volume 37(2), pages 153–161. Among them were , , es, , , , and .Poinar G. & Poinar R. (2007): What Bugged the Dinosaurs? Insects, Disease, and Death in the Cretaceous. Princeton University Press: 296. Other arthropodal bloodsuckers were .Klompen H., Grimaldi D. (2001). First Mesozoic Record of a Parasitiform Mite: a Larval Argasid Tick in Cretaceous Amber (Acari: Ixodida: Argasidae), BioOne, Volume 4(1), pages 10-15. indicate that first became parasitic about 100 million to 125 million years ago.Choi C.Q., Dinosaurs Likely Lousy With Lice, LiveScience, 05 April 2011. Link , a 22.8 mm (0.9 inches) long bloodsucking flea, lived 125 million years ago. However, in strata older than the Cretaceous evidence of hematophagy is scarce. In the Upper Jurassic Period there lived flies belonging to the family. They were initially thought to feed on Pterosaurs,Vršanský P., Ren D., Shih C. (2010). Nakridletia ord.n. – enigmatic insect parasites support sociality and endothermy of pterosaurs, AMBA Projekty, Volume 8(1), pages 1–16. but further discoveries showed otherwise.Pappas S., Jurassic Insects Wrongly Accused of Sucking Dino Blood, LiveScience, 20 February 2013. Link In the Middle Jurassic (165 million years ago) lived the flea fleas. This species were discovered in Inner Mongolia. They measure 17 millimeters (0.7 inches) in length, not including its antennae, with mouth parts extending some 3.4 mm (0.13 inches), more than twice the length of the head.Bryner J., Monster 'Fleas' Put the Bite on Dinosaurs, LiveScience, 02 May 2012. Link. There is no evidence bloodsucking arthropods from the rest of the Early Jurassic or the entire Triassic Period. In 2012 a leech cocoon was discovered an Antarctican stratum of 200 million years old. It is unknown if the Triassic leeches were bloodsuckers, but the cocoon had the same structure of the bloodsucking .Bomfleura B., Kerpb H., Taylora T.N., Moestrupc Ø., Taylora E.L. (2012). Triassic leech cocoon from Antarctica contains fossil bell animal, PNAS, volume 109(51), pages 20971–20974. Feeding on dinosaurs References Category:Science of Jurassic Park